29 Nov 2022

Seeing Loud. Basquiat And Music

“Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time.” Jean-Michel Basquiat’s remarkable art is rich with music – in its rhythmic gestures, in its symbolism, in its use of space. A musician himself, Basquiat worked in the colours of bebop, hip-hop, classical, blues. When Basquiat spoke, musical

13 Oct 2022

Jeffrey Milstein. Autumn

We always look forward to a new exhibit from Jeffrey Milstein, and now we have one: ‘Autumn’, on October 13th to 29th at the Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto. Milstein is back looking down with his camera from light aircraft and helicopters. As we read: ‘Bau-Xi Gallery is pleased to present, Autumn,

02 Oct 2022

Identical Twins At Gucci

Fashion is theatre and – when it comes to the Spring Summer 2023 shows in Milan – Gucci steals the show. Creative Director Alessandro Michele was running two simultaneous catwalks on either side of a blacked-out screen. Striking colours, mad patterns, luxurious fabrics, and many interesting models no one had

24 Aug 2022

Takashi Murakami. Stepping On The Tail Of A Rainbow

Like most of us, artist Takashi Murakami’s life and perspective has been changed by the pandemic. As he said in a 2022 interview with the Gagosian Quarterly: “My awakening to the metaverse happened in the summer of 2020, the first year of the pandemic, when I saw the way my

13 Aug 2022

Oscar’s Coin

‘Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what they’re trying to say with jazz. You don’t need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth, then people will listen to you.’ So said one of our favourite pianists: Oscar Peterson. With

06 Aug 2022

Conserving de Kooning: Theft and Recovery

On November 29th, 1985, two art thieves – “a man and a woman in thick winter coats” – followed an employee into the University of Arizona Museum Of Art. The time? Almost 9 am. Right before opening. The woman chatted to the security guard, while the man crept upstairs. They

13 Jul 2022

In Grecian Colour

White. Beige. Mottled Grey. What colour comes to mind when you think of ancient Greek statues? For most of us, it’s the neutrals. The beautifully carved neutrals that we’ve seen in museums and textbooks. But was this the work that the Greeks saw upon unveiling? No, according to a new

24 Jun 2022

Virginia Mak. Countenance

‘Countenance’ – be it one’s face, one’s expression – is a word we quickly associate with 19th Century poetry. Take this excerpt from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famed ‘Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie’. ‘At the helm sat a youth, with countenance thoughtful and careworn. Dark and neglected locks overshadowed his brow,

08 Jun 2022

Ewa Juszkiewicz Upends The Classics

Last month, gifted painter Ewa Juszkiewicz saw her striking ‘Portrait of a Lady (After Louis Leopold Boilly)’, featured above, sell for radically more than expected at a Christie’s auction.  Initially estimated to go for $200,000, Juszkiewicz’s work fetched $1.56 million. Juszkiewicz, who was born in Gdánsk, and lives in Warsaw,

15 May 2022

Whitney Lewis-Smith. Biophilia

“I’m a photo-based artist, but the majority of what I do is actually collecting, sourcing and building sets.” So said artist Whitney Lewis-Smith in a 2019 interview with CBC.  “It’s much more sculptural than just a photograph. I make images on glass plate negatives that I make myself. I create